Generic information element

ABSTRACT

A computer data signal embodied in a non-transitory computer-readable medium is described. In one embodiment, the computer data signal includes a generic element identifier, a plurality of task-specific data, a variable length identifier and a multi-use data type identifier. The generic element identifier is configurable to identify an information element containing the generic element identifier as a generic information element. The variable length identifier is configurable to indicate a number of the plurality of task-specific data. The multi-use data type identifier is configurable to indicate a type of the plurality of task-specific data.

CROSS-REFERENCE UNDER 35 U.S.C. §120

The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 13/085,703, filed on Apr. 13, 2011, now U.S. Pat. No.8,165,131, which is a division of U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/741,107, filed on Dec. 19, 2003, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,933,275 each ofwhich is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure relates generally to information elementsemployed in telecommunications networks and, more specifically, to ageneric information element.

In a telecommunications network, information elements are employed totransfer information between network nodes, such as those regardingrequests or commands to be performed by the destination node. Aninformation element is a group of information which may be includedwithin a signaling message or data flow which is sent across aninterface. Examples may include QoS (Quality of Service) definitions,setup parameters, user identifiers, etc. Interface standards such as theInteroperability Specification (IOS) for cmda2000® govern the format ofmany such information elements. For example, a specific request,command, data transfer or other task may employ an information elementhaving a task-specific format stipulated by the IOS or another standard.

As new telecommunications features or activities are created,specifications for the corresponding new information elements aresubmitted for inclusion in the applicable standard. However, theinclusion of the specifications for the new feature into the applicablestandard is a time-intensive process and can delay product release up to18 months. In many instances, this delay is detrimental, possiblycatastrophic, to the new feature. For example, market demand for the newfeature may substantially subside in the 18 months elapsing betweenidentification of a product need and subsequent product delivery.

Accordingly, what is needed is an information element and method of usethereof that addresses the issues discussed above.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure introduces a wireless communication systemincluding a first station having first communication software forgenerating and transmitting a first message having a task-specificformat and a second message having a task-independent format. Thewireless communication system also includes a second station havingsecond communication software for receiving and processing the first andsecond messages.

A method of communicating between telecommunications network stations isalso provided in the present disclosure. In one embodiment, the methodincludes populating a message having a task-independent format withtask-specific data, transmitting the message, and receiving the message.

The present disclosure also provides a computer data signal possiblyembodied in a non-transitory computer-readable medium and comprising ageneric element identifier configurable to identify an informationelement containing the generic element identifier as a genericinformation element. The computer data signal also includes a pluralityof task-specific data, a variable length identifier configurable toindicate a number of the plurality of task-specific data, and amulti-use data type identifier configurable to indicate a type of theplurality of task-specific data.

The present disclosure also provides a method for communicatingnon-standardized action defining information over a standardizedinterface between at least two network nodes. In one embodiment, themethod includes sending a standardized message from one node to at leastanother node, wherein the message includes: (1) a data field containinga generic data element identifier configurable to identify one of aplurality of non-standardized actions to be taken by the nodes receivingthe message; (2) a plurality of task-specific data furthercharacterizing the non-standardize action to be taken by the nodesreceiving the message; (3) a variable length identifier to identify thelength of the task-specific data; and (4) a multi-use data identifierconfigurable to indicate the type of the plurality of task-specificdata.

The foregoing has outlined features of several embodiments so that thoseskilled in the art may better understand the detailed description thatfollows. Additional features will be described below that further formthe subject of the claims herein. Those skilled in the art shouldappreciate that they can readily use the present disclosure as a basisfor designing or modifying other processes and structures for carryingout the same purposes and/or achieving the same advantages of theembodiments introduced herein. Those skilled in the art should alsorealize that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the spiritand scope of the present disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Aspects of the present disclosure are best understood from the followingdetailed description when read with the accompanying figures. It isemphasized that, in accordance with the standard practice in theindustry, various features are not drawn to scale. In fact, thedimensions of the various features may be arbitrarily increased orreduced for clarity of discussion.

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of one embodiment of atelecommunications network employing generic information elementsaccording to aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of one embodiment of a genericinformation element according to aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of an example of a populatedembodiment of a generic information element according to aspects of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of another example of a populatedembodiment of a generic information element according to aspects of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram of another example of a populatedembodiment of a generic information element according to aspects of thepresent disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

It is to be understood that the following disclosure provides manydifferent embodiments, or examples, for implementing different featuresof various embodiments. Specific examples of components and arrangementsare described below to simplify the present disclosure. These are, ofcourse, merely examples and are not intended to be limiting. Inaddition, the present disclosure may repeat reference numerals and/orletters in the various examples. This repetition is for the purpose ofsimplicity and clarity and does not in itself dictate a relationshipbetween the various embodiments and/or configurations discussed.

Referring to FIG. 1, illustrated is a block diagram of atelecommunications network 100 within which a generic or multi-use(hereafter collectively referred to as generic) information elementaccording to aspects of the present disclosure may be employed. FIG. 1illustrates the relationship among networked components in support ofmobile originations, mobile terminations and direct BS-to-BS handoffoperations, among others. The telecommunications network 100 includes amobile switching center (MSC) 110, a source base station (BS) 120 andone or more target BS 130. The source BS 120 is configured tocommunicate with the MSC 110 and the target BS 130. The source BS 120and the target BS 130 are each configured to communicate with mobilestations (MS) 140.

The source BS 120 identifies where the equipment that generates a callor calls is placed. The source BS 120 comprises a base stationcontroller (BSC) 125, a selection/distribution unit (SDU) 127 and one ormore base transceiver stations (BTS) 128. In general, base stationsprovide the functionality that enables a mobile station to accessnetwork services over the air interface. The source BS 120 is a termused to identify the base station that is in control of the call. Thetarget BS 130 identifies any base station, excluding the source BS 120,that supports a call. However, like the source BS 120, the target BS 130comprises a BSC 135, an SDU 137 and one or more BTS 138.

The MSC 110 is a telecommunication switch or exchange which is capableof interworking with location databases. The MSC 110 may be a portion ofa core network, which may be an evolved global system for mobilecommunication (GSM) core network infrastructure, a universal mobiletelecommunications system (UMTS) core network infrastructure, or a codedivision multiple access (CDMA) network infrastructure, integratingcircuit and packet switched traffic. In addition to the MSC 110, such acore network may include such functions as a visitor location register(VLR), a home location register (HLR), a serving GPRS support node(SGSN) and a gateway GPRS support node (GGSN), among others.

Each MS 140 comprises a wireless terminal enabling a user to accessnetwork services, such as cellular phones, personal digital assistants(PDAs), pagers and other wireless terminals. Each MS 140 may alsocomprise mobile equipment (ME) and either a programmed user identitymodule (UIM) or a removable user identity module (R-UIM).

The telecommunications network 100 may also include a packet controlfunction (PCF) 150 and a packet data serving node (PDSN) 160. The PCF150 controls the transmission of packets between the source BS 120 andthe PDSN 160. The PDSN 160 is responsible for the establishment,maintenance and termination of a point-to-point protocol (PPP) sessiontowards a MS 140. The PDSN 160 may also assign dynamic internet protocol(IP) addresses in addition to supporting mobile IP functionality.

An A1 interface 105 a carries signaling information between call controland mobility management functions 112 of the MSC 110 and a call controlcomponent of the source BS 120, such as a base station controller (BSC)125. Such signaling information may include various commands andrequests between the source BS 120 and the MSC 110, possibly in the formof one or more generic information elements constructed according toaspects of the present disclosure. Thus, the source BS 120 and the MSC110 may each include software for generating, transmitting, receivingand/or processing such generic information elements. Of course, thesource BS 120 and the MSC 110 may also exchange information byconventional information elements having formats specific to the tasksto be performed. As such, the BSC 120 and the MSC 110 may also includesoftware for generating, transmitting, receiving and/or processingconventional information elements.

An A2 interface 105 b provides a path for user traffic. The A2 interface105 b carries 64/56 kbps pulse code modulation (PCM) information forcircuit-oriented voice communication, or 64 kbps unrestricted digitalinformation (UDI) for integrated service digital network (ISDN)communication, between a switch component 115 of the MSC 110 and an SDU127 of the source BS 120.

An A3 interface 105 c is used to transport user traffic and signalingfor inter-BS handoff when a target BS 130 is attached to a frameselection function within the source BS 120. The A3 interface 105 ccarries coded user information (voice/data) and signaling informationbetween the SDU 127 and the BTS 138 or another channel element componentor other component of the target BS 130. The A3 interface 105 ccomprises two parts: a signaling portion 105 c′ and user traffic portion105 c″. The signaling information is carried across the logical channel105 c′ separate from the user traffic channel 105 c″ and controls theallocation and use of channels for transporting user traffic. Suchsignaling information may include various commands and requests,possibly in the form of one or more generic information elementsconstructed according to aspects of the present disclosure. Thus, inaddition to the source BS 120, the target BS 130 may include softwarefor generating, transmitting, receiving and/or processing such genericinformation elements. Of course, the source BS 120 and the target BS 130may also exchange information by conventional information elementshaving formats specific to the tasks to be performed. As such, thetarget BS 130 may also include software for generating, transmitting,receiving and/or processing conventional information elements.

An A5 interface 105 d provides a path for user traffic forcircuit-oriented data calls between the source BS 120 and the MSC 110.The A5 interface 105 d carries a full duplex stream of bytes between theswitch component 115 of the MSC 110 and the SDU 127 of the source BS120. Such signaling information may include various commands andrequests, possibly in the form of one or more generic informationelements constructed according to aspects of the present disclosure.

An A7 interface 105 e carries signaling information between the sourceBS 120 and the target BS 130 for inter-BS handoff. Such signalinginformation may include various commands and requests, possibly in theform of one or more generic information elements constructed accordingto aspects of the present disclosure.

An A8 interface 105 f carries user traffic between the source BS 120 andthe PCF 150. An A9 interface 105 g carries signaling information betweenthe source BS 120 and the PCF 150. Such signaling information mayinclude various commands and requests, possibly in the form of one ormore generic information elements constructed according to aspects ofthe present disclosure. Thus, in addition to the source BS 120, the PCF150 may include software for generating, transmitting, receiving and/orprocessing such generic information elements. Of course, the source BS120 and the PCF 150 may also exchange information by conventionalinformation elements having formats specific to the tasks to beperformed. As such, the PCF 150 may also include software forgenerating, transmitting, receiving and/or processing conventionalinformation elements.

An A10 interface 105 h carries user traffic between the PCF 150 and thePDSN 160. An A11 interface 105 i carries signaling information betweenthe PCF 150 and the PDSN 160. Such signaling information may includevarious commands and requests, possibly in the form of one or moregeneric information elements constructed according to aspects of thepresent disclosure. Thus, in addition to the PCF 150, the PDSN 160 mayinclude software for generating, transmitting, receiving and/orprocessing such generic information elements. Of course, the PCF 150 andthe PDSN 160 may also exchange information by conventional informationelements having formats specific to the tasks to be performed. As such,the PDSN 160 may also include software for generating, transmitting,receiving and/or processing conventional information elements.

The network 100 may also include an interworking function (IWF) 170 forcircuit-oriented calls possibly located with the MSC 110. Also, the SDUfunction 127 is considered to be co-located with the source BSC,although other locations of the SDU 127 within the network 100 arewithin the scope of the present disclosure.

FIG. 1 illustrates a logical architecture that does not imply anyparticular physical implementation. Of course, aspects of the presentdisclosure are applicable and/or readily adaptable to otherarchitecture, arrangements and networks.

Thus, at least in the illustrated embodiment, as discussed above, ageneric information element according to aspects of the presentdisclosure may be employed for interfaces carrying signaling informationbetween:

-   -   the source BS 120 and the MSC 110 (e.g., BS management        information);    -   the MS 140 and the MSC 110 via the source BS 120 or the target        BS 130 (e.g., the source BS 120 maps air-interface messages to        the A1 interface 105 a);    -   the source BS 120 and other network elements via the MSC 110;    -   the source BS 120 and the target BS 130;    -   the source BS 120 and the PCF 150;    -   the PCF 150 and the PDSN 160; and    -   the MS 140 and the PDSN 160 (e.g., authorization information and        mobile internet protocol (MIP) signaling).

Referring to FIG. 2, illustrated is a diagram of one embodiment of ageneric information element 200 constructed according to aspects of thepresent disclosure. The generic information element 200 includes ageneric element identifier field 210, task specific data fields 220, avariable length identifier 230 and a multi-use data type identifier 240.The generic information element 200 may also include an encoding schemeidentifier 250. The generic information element 200 may be employed tocommunicate non-standardized actions defining information over astandardized interface between at least two network nodes, such as thestandardized interfaces and network nodes discussed above with regard toFIG. 1.

The generic element identifier 210 is configurable to identify theinformation element 200 as a generic information elementconstructed/employed according to aspects of the present disclosure. Thegeneric element identifier 210 may also be configurable to identify oneof a plurality of specific tasks to be performed by a telecommunicationsnetwork node in response to a request or command embodying or embodiedby the generic information element 200. The variable length identifier230 is configurable to indicate a quantity of the task-specific datacontained in the generic information element 200. For example, thelength indicator 230 may specify the number of octets which make up thegeneric information element 200 after being populated with task-specificdata, or may specify the number of task-specific data fields 220. Thevariable length identifier 230 may also be employed to mark a specificelement within an information element or frame. In one embodiment, thelength indicator 230 identifies the number of octets or data fields ofother lengths that follow the length identifier 230.

The task-specific data fields 220 may comprise any number of octets ordata elements/fields of other lengths that are required for a particulartask. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, three octets are included inthe information element 200. In some embodiments, the genericinformation element 200 may not comprise any data octets in/as the datafields 220. Also, as depicted in FIG. 2, the left-most bits in each ofthe data fields 220 shown in FIG. 2 may be the most significant bits,and the right-most bits may be the least significant bits. The datafields 220 may also comprise more than one octet. In such embodiments,the first octet in the data field 220 may comprise the most significantbit in the field and the last octet in the field may comprise the leastsignificant bit in the field. In some embodiments, the genericinformation element 200 includes up to 24 octets in the data fields 220,up to 24 data fields 220, or up to 192 bits in the data fields 220. Ofcourse, data structures and arrangements other than those discussedabove are also within the scope of the present disclosure.

The multi-use data type identifier 240 is configurable to indicate atype of the plurality of task-specific data populating the data fields220. For example, the types of data may include authentication codes,personal identification numbers, feature codes, traffic band management(TBM) information and packet data billing information. In oneembodiment, the multi-use data type identifier 240 may carry a valuerepresenting a data type selecting from up to 31 types of data.

The encoding scheme identifier 250 may indicate an encoding schemeemployed to encode the task-specific data in the data fields 220. Forexample, the data fields 220 may be populated with data that is binarycoded decimal (BCD) even, BCD-odd, binary or ASCII coded.

The generic information element 200 may be employed for or added totelecommunication signaling messages for tasks that may or may not havestandardized information elements associated therewith. For example, thegeneric information element 200 may be added to a connection management(CM) service request, a paging request, a paging response, a connectmessage, an assignment message, an assignment complete message, anassignment request message, a base station service request, a flash withinformation message, a location updating request, an application datadelivery service (ADDS) transfer message, an ADDS deliver message andother messages.

The generic information element 200 may be added as an operationalconditional element. The conditions for inclusion of the element in suchapplications may be defined in the operations where the message is usedand in footnotes associated with a table defining the order of theinformation elements in the message.

Thus, the generic information element 200 is employable in myriadapplications. For example, the generic information element 200 isacceptable by any IOS compliant MSC or BS receiving the element 200regardless of whether or not the receiving MSC or BS recognizes thecontents of the element 200. One such application is packet databilling, which allows wireless customers to bill or be billed based on avariety of characteristics, including QoS, zone and transmission rate.The generic information element 200 also allows storage of mobileinformation in the VLR and HLR outside of standard, defined scenarios.

Referring to FIG. 3, illustrated is an example of the genericinformation element 200 shown in FIG. 2 populated with task-specificdata, the populated generic information element herein designated by thereference numeral 300. The generic information element 300 shown in FIG.3 may be employed in a TBM application. TBM allows the MSC to indicateto the BSC which bands the MS supports. The BSC can then balance trafficacross the bands it supports and select the band that is least utilized.In such an application, the data type may be “TBM”, which may beindicated by the numeral 4 in an applicable standard. The standard mayalso indicate that the first data field includes a redirectionindication, wherein a zero value indicates redirection is not supported,a 1 indicates redirection is supported for 2G only, a 2 indicatesredirection is supported for 3G only, and a 3 indicates redirection issupported for 2G and 3G. Similarly, subsequent data fields may beemployed to indicate band class information, wherein a zero valueindicates an 800 MHz band, a 1 indicates a 1900 MHz band, a 2 indicatesan analog band, a 3 indicates a wide analog band, and a 4 indicates anarrow analog band.

The generic information element identifier 310 is 200 (11001000 inbinary). This value may indicate that the information element 300 is ageneric information element according to the applicable standard. Thelength indicator 330 indicates that 3 octets follow the length indicator330. The encoding scheme identifier 350 carries the value zero, whichmay identify the coding scheme as BCD-even in the applicable standard.The data type identifier 340 carries the value 4, which may identify thetask-specific data in the data fields 320 a-d as pertaining to TBM inthe applicable standard. Per the example described above, the data inthe first data field 320 a indicates what type of redirection issupported and the data in the 3 subsequent data fields 320 b-d indicatewhich bands are supported. For example, the data in the first data field320 a carries the value 3, indicating that redirection is supported for2G and 3G mobiles according to the applicable standard. Similarly, thedata in the second data field 320 b carries the value 2, the data in thethird data field 320 c carries the value 1, and the data in the fourthdata field 320 d carries the value 3, indicating that the mobilesupports analog, 1900 MHz and wide analog according to the applicablestandard. The applicable standard in the present examples may be the IOSstandard discussed above and/or another standard and/or protocol agreedupon by partnering entities utilizing the telecommunications network inwhich the generic information element 300 is employed.

Referring to FIG. 4, illustrated is another example of the genericinformation element 200 shown in FIG. 2 populated with task-specificdata, the populated generic information element herein designated by thereference numeral 400. The generic information element 400 shown in FIG.4 may be employed in a packet data billing application. Packet databilling allows the BSC to send packet data session information to theMSC for use in CDR generation or sending to downstream billingprocessors. Some packet zones may be more expensive than others, such aszones covering airport terminals or the floor of the New York StockExchange that may be more expensive than zones covering a local zoo orrestaurant. In such an application, the data type may be “packet databilling”, which may be indicated by the numeral 5 in then applicablestandard. The standard may also indicate that the first data fieldincludes a packet zone identification indicating the packet zone inwhich the MS is located. Similarly, the data field comprising the next 4octets may be employed to indicate the number of octets or other dataelements transmitted in the forward direction and the data fieldcomprising the next 4 octets may be employed to indicated the number ofoctets or other data elements transmitted in the reverse direction.

The generic information element identifier 410 is 200, as with thegeneric information element identifier 310 in the generic informationelement 300 shown in FIG. 3. The length indicator 430 indicates that 10octets follow the length indicator 430. The encoding scheme identifier450 carries the value 2, which may identify the coding scheme as binaryencoding in the applicable standard. The data type identifier 440carries the value 5, which may identify that the task-specific data inthe data fields 420 a-c pertains to packet data billing in theapplicable standard. The data in the first data field 420 a indicatesthat the MS is in packet zone 185, the data in the second data field 420b (wherein the most significant bit is the top-left bit in the field 420b and the least significant bit is the bottom-right bit in the field 420b) indicates that 64001 octets are transmitted in the forward direction,and the data in the last data field 420 c indicates that 181 octets aretransmitted in the reverse direction.

Referring to FIG. 5, illustrated is another example of the genericinformation element 200 shown in FIG. 2 populated with task-specificdata, the populated generic information element herein designated by thereference numeral 500. The generic information element 500 shown in FIG.5 may be employed in a personal caller identification (ID) application.In such an application, a MS user can program a personal caller ID textstring to be displayed on a terminating or destination MS. In such anapplication, the data type may be “personal caller ID”, which may beindicated by the numeral 20 in the applicable standard. The data typemay carry a proprietary value, such that the information in the genericinformation element 500 may only be understood by an entity creating thestandard or protocol and its vendors (which may also be true for genericinformation elements containing data of types of than “personal callerID”). Each of the data fields 520 a-1 may carry an ASCII value of analphanumeric character in the personal caller ID text string. In thepresent example, the length of the personal caller ID text string islimited to 12 characters.

The generic information element identifier 510 is 200, as with thegeneric information element identifier 310 in the generic informationelement 300 shown in FIG. 3. The length indicator 530 indicates that 13octets follow the length indicator 530. The encoding scheme identifier550 carries the value 3, which may identify the coding scheme as ASCIIencoding in the applicable standard. The data type identifier 540carries the value 20, which may identify that the task-specific data inthe data fields 520 a-1 pertain to personal caller ID in the applicablestandard. The data in the first through sixth data fields 520 a-frepresent the alphanumeric characters “H”, “a”, “n”, “n”, “a”, and “h”.The seventh data field 520 g represents the alphanumeric character “-”.The data in the eighth through eleventh data fields 520 h-k representthe alphanumeric characters “c”, “e”, “1”, and “1”. The last data field520 l is not used in the present example. Thus, the personal caller IDin this example is “Hannah-cell”.

Thus, the present disclosure introduces a generic information elementcomprising a generic element identifier, a plurality of task-specificdata, a variable length identifier and a multi-use data type identifier.The generic element identifier is configurable to identify one of aplurality of specific tasks to be performed by a telecommunicationsnetwork node or to identify the information element as a genericinformation element. The variable length is identifier is configurableto indicate a number of the plurality of task-specific data. Themulti-use data type identifier is configurable to indicate a type of theplurality of task-specific data. Moreover, in view of the informationelement being employed to transfer a signaling message or data flowacross an interface in a telecommunications network, the informationelement may be a computer data signal, such as a data signal embodied ina carrier wave or non-transitory computer-readable medium.

A wireless communication system is also provided in the presentdisclosure. In one embodiment, the system includes a first stationhaving first communication software for generating and transmitting afirst message having a task-specific format and a second message havinga task-independent format. The system also includes a second stationhaving second communication software for receiving and processing thefirst and second messages.

A method of communicating between telecommunications network stations isalso provided in the present disclosure. In one embodiment, the methodincludes populating a message having a task-independent format withtask-specific data, transmitting the message, and receiving the message.The present disclosure also introduces a method of using task-specificdata comprising, in one embodiment, arranging the task-specific data ina message having a task-independent format, transmitting the message,receiving the message, and processing the task-specific data.

Another method of communication between telecommunications network nodesaccording to aspects of the present disclosure includes generating aplurality of messages including: (1) at least one first message havingfirst task-specific data arranged in a task-specific format; and (2) atleast one second message having second task specific data arranged in atask-independent format. The method also includes transmitting theplurality of messages between the telecommunications network nodes andprocessing the messages.

The present disclosure also provides a method for communicatingnon-standardized action defining information over a standardizedinterface between at least two network nodes. In one embodiment, themethod includes sending a standardized message from one node to at leastanother node, wherein the message includes: (1) a data field containinga generic data element identifier configurable to identify one of aplurality of non-standardized actions to be taken by the nodes receivingthe message; (2) a plurality of task-specific data furthercharacterizing the non-standardize action to be taken by the nodesreceiving the message; (3) a variable length identifier to identify thelength of the task-specific data; and (4) a multi-use data identifierconfigurable to indicate the type of the plurality of task-specificdata.

Those skilled in the art should appreciate that they may readily use thepresent disclosure as a basis for designing or modifying other processesand structures for carrying out the same purposes and/or achieving thesame advantages of the embodiments introduced herein. Those skilled inthe art should also realize that such equivalent constructions do notdepart from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure, and thatthey may make various changes, substitutions and alterations hereinwithout departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

1. A network element operable to communicate messages in atelecommunication system, the network element comprising: a messagegenerator operable to generate messages; and a message transmitteroperable to transmit the generated messages via an Ax interface; whereinat least one of the messages comprises a format for communicatinggeneric information elements each defining a task to be performed byanother network element, each generic information element comprising: ageneric element identifier field that identifies the generic informationelement as a generic information element and also identifies one of aplurality of tasks to be performed by the other network element; datafields that comprise task data required for a task; a variable lengthindicator that indicates a quantity of the task data contained in thegeneric information element; and a multi-use data type identifier thatidentifies which of a plurality of types of task data populates the taskdata fields.
 2. The network element of claim 1, wherein the variablelength indicator indicates the number of octets that make up the genericinformation element after being populated with the task data.
 3. Thenetwork element of claim 1, wherein the variable length indicatorindicates the number of task data fields.
 4. The network element ofclaim 1, wherein the plurality of types of task data includes at leastone of authentication codes, personal identification numbers, featurecodes, traffic band management (TBM) information, and packet databilling information.
 5. The network element of claim 1, wherein at leastone of the messages comprises at least one of a connection management(CM) service request, a paging request, a paging response, a connectmessage, an assignment message, an assignment complete message, anassignment request message, a base station service request, a flash withinformation message, a location updating request, an application datadelivery service (ADDS) transfer message, and an ADDS deliver message.6. The network element of claim 1, wherein each generic informationelement further comprises an encoding scheme identifier that identifiesan encoding scheme employed to encode the task data in the task datafields.
 7. The network element of claim 6, wherein the encoding schemeis one of binary coded decimal (BCD) even, BCD-odd, binary, and ASCII.8. The network element of claim 1, wherein the telecommunication systemis a wireless communication system and the apparatus is incorporated inone of a base station, a mobile station, a mobile switching center, apacket data serving node, and a packet control function.
 9. A networkelement operable to communicate messages in a telecommunication system,the network element comprising: a receiver operable to receive messagesvia an Ax interface; and a message processor operable to process thereceived messages; wherein at least one of the messages comprises aformat for communicating generic information elements each defining atask to be performed by the network element, each generic informationelement comprising: a generic element identifier field that identifiesthe generic information element as a generic information element andalso identifies one of a plurality of tasks to be performed by thenetwork element; data fields that comprise task data required for atask; a variable length indicator that indicates a quantity of the taskdata contained in the generic information element; and a multi-use datatype identifier that identifies which of a plurality of types of taskdata populates the task data fields.
 10. The network element of claim 9,wherein the variable length indicator indicates the number of octetsthat make up the generic information element after being populated withthe task data.
 11. The network element of claim 9, wherein the variablelength indicator indicates the number of task data fields.
 12. Thenetwork element of claim 9, wherein the plurality of types of task dataincludes at least one of authentication codes, personal identificationnumbers, feature codes, traffic band management (TBM) information, andpacket data billing information.
 13. The network element of claim 9,wherein at least one of the messages comprises at least one of aconnection management (CM) service request, a paging request, a pagingresponse, a connect message, an assignment message, an assignmentcomplete message, an assignment request message, a base station servicerequest, a flash with information message, a location updating request,an application data delivery service (ADDS) transfer message, and anADDS deliver message.
 14. The network element of claim 9, wherein eachgeneric information element further comprises an encoding schemeidentifier that identifies an encoding scheme employed to encode thetask data in the task data fields.
 15. The network element of claim 14,wherein the encoding scheme is one of binary coded decimal (BCD) even,BCD-odd, binary, and ASCII.
 16. The network element of claim 9, whereinthe telecommunication system is a wireless communication system and theapparatus is incorporated in one of a base station, a mobile station, amobile switching center, a packet data serving node, and a packetcontrol function.